Plastics bottle construction

ABSTRACT

A plastics bottle comprising two parts each being stackable in its own right and each part in practice being sealable to the other to provide a unitary bottle for the containment of a liquid or flowable product.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the construction of plastics bottlesand in particular, although not exclusively, has reference to theconstruction of such bottles that are used for beverages and the like,and other liquids or flowable products, and that are sold in bulknumbers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Plastics bottles have been used in many diverse fields, perhaps the mostnotable of which is that of the soft drinks industry where millions ofbottle units are sold annually in an ever-increasing internationalmarket. Typically, bottles of this kind are of unitary construction andaccordingly have to be arrayed for delivery to the user industry as acomplete item in batches, thereby incurring not inconsiderable haulagecosts by virtue of the volume of their bulk. In practice, the liquid isinjected into the whole bottle and then a removable, but sealable, topis affixed in an appropriate manner to what is usually a narrow neck ofthe bottle provided with a screw thread for complementary fixing withthe removable top.

The bulk volume of conventional bottles to be delivered to the liquid orflowable product manufacturers for filling represents a seriousdisadvantage practically and economically.

Accordingly, there is a need for an improved plastics bottle whichobviates the aforementioned disadvantage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide animproved plastics bottle.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a plasticsbottle that is easier to store and transport in view of its stackablecharacter.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a plasticsbottle, which may be filled from the top or in an alternativeconfiguration filled from the bottom.

Accordingly there is provided a plastics bottle for the containment of aliquid or other flowable product, the bottle comprising a relatively toppart and a separate relatively bottom part adapted in use for sealingengagement one with the other to provide a unitary bottle following orprior filling with the contents, and an entry into one of the parts ofthe bottle for the filling thereof, each part being so formed as to bestackable within or on one another of the same part prior to filling.

In a first embodiment of the present invention, the bottom part isconveniently of tapered hollow cylindrical construction with an openmouth of a preselected diametral extent and the top part is of agenerally hollow funnel shape defining a neck portion and a flaredportion, the neck portion preferably being provided with an opening forselectively emptying the bottle of its content. The neck portion ispreferably provided with an external thread defining the opening andbeing for the reception of a cap, and the flared portion presenting asealing rim for engagement with the mouth of the bottom part. Inessence, the bottom part is relatively larger than the top part.

Conveniently, other the sealing common interface between the top andbottom parts could be a snap-type interface or a screw-type interface.

In a second embodiment of the present invention, the bottom part isformed like a disc and the top part comprises an open ended taperedhollow cylindrical section leading to a flared portion with a neckportion preferably being provided with an opening for selectivelyemptying the bottle of its content. The neck portion is preferablyprovided with an external thread defining the opening and being for thereception of a cap, the open end of the cylindrical section presenting asealing rim for engagement with the disc of the bottom part. In essencethe top part is relatively larger than the bottom part.

The sealing of the top and bottom parts may be effected thermally or inthe alternative may be of a mechanical kind with one of the parts beingrolled over and pressed or pinched one on the other.

Alternatively, the top and bottom parts are locally secured to oneanother and form a single molded piece.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from a careful reading of the detailed description providedherein, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will becomebetter understood with reference to the description in association withthe following Figures, in which similar references used in differentFigures denote similar components, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a complete bottle in accordancewith a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the bottle shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the bottle of FIG. 2 illustrating thetaper form of the bottom part thereof;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of a number of stacked parts relating to thefirst embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3;

FIG. 5 is a scrap sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 5 a to 5 c are views similar to FIG. 5, showing different types ofsealing common interface between the two top and bottom parts;

FIG. 6 is a front perspective exploded view of a bottle in accordancewith a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of a number of stacked parts relatingto the second embodiment of FIG. 6,

FIG. 8 is a front perspective view of a number of stacked parts relatingto another embodiment of the present invention in which the two partsare locally secured to one another during handling thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to the annexed drawings the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention will be herein described for indicative purpose and byno means as of limitation.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, a first embodiment of a plastics bottle isshown at 10 and comprises a bottom part 12 of hollow tapered form as canbe more clearly seen in FIG. 3, the tapering 13 being of such degree aas to allow stacking of a multiplicity of parts one in the other asillustrated in FIG. 14. The bottom part 12 has an open mouth 14 and itsexternal surface is contoured as at 15.

The plastics bottle 10 further comprises a top part 16 of funnel shapewith a neck portion 18 provided with an external thread 20 defining anopening through the top part and being for engagement by a screw cap 22,the neck portion being contiguous with a flared concave portion 24having a sealing lip or rim 26. The opening is to allow for theselective emptying the bottle of its content.

As will readily be seen from FIG. 4 the bottom parts 12 of a pluralityof bottles 10 are stackable or nestable one in the other by virtue ofthe tapered form illustrated in FIG. 3. In like manner the top parts 16can nest one in the other. Accordingly, a greater number of empty‘bottles’ per unit area of storage or transport space can beaccommodated than with conventional bottles. As can be seen in theillustrated example, four ‘bottles’ can be stored on the same area asone conventional bottle. As will be understood, a greater number ofbottles may be nested in this fashion for transport to a bottling plantor stored therein within a much-diminished area than with bottles of theknown construction.

In use, when it is desired to fill or charge the bottle of the presentinvention with a liquid or flowable product, the bottom part 12 istypically presented to the filling station (not shown) and the productis introduced thereinto via the open mouth 14 forming a product entry.Once the desired level is reached, the bottom part 12 is moved alongfrom the filling station and the top part 16 is brought into contacttherewith and the two parts are sealed together at the common interface28 defined by the open mouth 14 of the bottom part and the rim 26 of thetop part 16. As will be seen from FIG. 5 the seal interface 28, the toppart is in sealing contact, the mouth 14 of the bottom part 12 foldingover the rim 26 of the top part 16 to prevent ingress or egress of thecontents of the now formed complete bottle, the cap 22 already beingtightly in place on the thread 20 of the neck portion 18. It will beunderstood by those skilled in the art that the sealing of the two partsmay be thermally effected and that such sealing can be effectedautomatically within the production line of the bottling plant.

As exemplified in FIGS. 5 a to 5 c, the sealing common interface 28 maytake different forms and/or shapes depending on the actual needs and useof the bottle 10. FIG. 5 a has an interface 28 a with the open mouth 14a and the rim 26 a being essentially similar and flat to come intosealing contact with each other, using a heat activated type sealinterface or the like. In FIG. 5 b, the rim 26 b of the interface 28 btypically forms an inwardly open channel which sealably receives thecircumferential edge of the open mouth 14 b, typically in a snappingmanner. In the interface 28 c of FIG. 5 c, the rim 26 c sealablyinterfaces with the open mouth 14 c in a screwing manner with threads orthe like, preferably with the upper rim 26 c having the internal thread.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7, the second embodiment of bottleaccording to the present invention is illustrated and it will be notedthat the bottle is in an inverted orientation with the bottom shown atthe top and the top shown at the bottom. This orientation is intended inuse in both the storage/transport and filling modes. The bottom part 12is comprised of a disc 12′ and is of relatively small magnitude incomparison with the top part 16 which is of greater volume. In thisembodiment the top part 16 incorporates a tapered hollow cylindricalsection 16′ extending from a wide mouth 30 down to a neck portion 31provided with an external screw thread 31′ for the engagement of a cap34.

As will clearly be observed from FIG. 7, a number of top parts 12 may benested or stacked one in the other, whilst the bottom parts 12 in theform of discs 12′, or eventually a truncated small cone (not shown) orthe like, can easily form a stack 12″.

As shown in FIG. 8, for ease of transportation, handling and assembly ofthe bottle 10″ prior to filling and closing thereof, each top part 16can be locally secured to the corresponding bottom part 12, typicallyvia a small plastic cord or band type link 36, allowing the two piecesto remain together and be molded out together into a single piece. Thelink 36 could be either folded or broken when the two parts 12, 16 arebeing preferably automatically and sealably assembled one onto eachother.

In practice, the top parts 12 would be held in an apertured tray orother base (not shown) to ensure stability during storage and transportand any conveying system would necessarily have to be correspondinglyapertured to receive the neck portions 31. In a bottling plant, the topparts 12 would be separated (or side by side as for the embodiment ofFIG. 8) and placed securely on a conveyor (not shown) for conveyance toa filling station for the injection of the liquid or flowable productconcerned through the wide mouth 30 forming the product entry. At thatstage each top part would be filled and subsequently the top parts 16would be conveyed to a sealing station whereat the bottom parts 12 wouldbe applied to and sealed to the open mouths 30 of the top parts. Thefilled bottle would thus be ready for dispatch to the point of sale ofits contents.

Alternatively, the two parts 12, 16 could be sealably assembled to oneanother just prior to the filling of the bottle 10 via the opening ofthe neck portion 18, 31, as conventionally done with the one-partbottle.

It will be understood that the shape of the bottle parts may be variedprovided that they may remain capable of stacking or nesting asdescribed supra, and the interface 28 being anywhere along the assembledbottle.

The manner of sealing will be governed inter alia by the nature of thefluid or flowable product to be contained within the bottle.

Although the neck portion 18, 31 is shown having a thread 20, 31′ to beengaged by a cap 22, 34 for the closing and preferably sealing of theopening of the top part 16, it would be obvious to one skilled in theart that the opening could be made differently and therefore the capcould be made out of other types of closing, such as for example aquarter-turn twist cap or the like, a flip type cover with a hinge orthe like, or a simply a seal type closure, and the like.

Although the present invention has been described with a certain degreeof particularity, it is to be understood that the disclosure has beenmade by way of example only and that the present invention is notlimited to the features of the embodiments described and illustratedherein, but includes all variations and modifications within the scopeand spirit of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

1. A plastics bottle for the containment of a liquid or other flowableproduct, the bottle comprising a relatively top part and a separaterelatively bottom part adapted in use for sealing engagement one withthe other to provide a unitary bottle following or prior filling withthe contents, and an entry into one of the parts of the bottle for thefilling thereof, each part being so formed as to be stackable within oron one another of the same part prior to filling.
 2. A plastics bottleaccording to claim 1 wherein the bottom part is of tapered hollowcylindrical construction with an open mouth of a preselected diametralextent and the top part is of a generally hollow funnel shape defining aneck portion and a flared portion, the neck portion being provided withan opening for selectively emptying the bottle of its content.
 3. Aplastics bottle according to claim 2 wherein the neck portion isprovided with an external thread defining the opening and being for thereception of a cap, and the flared portion presenting a sealing rim forengagement with the mouth of the bottom part.
 4. A plastics bottleaccording to claim 1 wherein the bottom part is formed like a disc andthe top part comprises an open ended tapered hollow cylindrical sectionleading to a flared portion with a neck portion being provided with anopening for selectively emptying the bottle of its content.
 5. Aplastics bottle according to claim 4 wherein the neck portion isprovided with an external thread defining the opening and being for thereception of a cap, the open end of the cylindrical section presenting asealing rim for engagement with the disc of the bottom part.
 6. Aplastics bottle according to claim 1 wherein the sealing of the top andbottom parts is effected thermally.
 7. A plastics bottle according toclaim 1 wherein the sealing of the top and bottom parts is effectedmechanically with one of the parts being pinched one to the other.
 8. Aplastics bottle according to claim 1 wherein the sealing of the top andbottom parts is effected mechanically with the top and bottom partsbeing screwably engageable with each other.
 9. A plastics bottleaccording to claim 1 wherein the sealing of the top and bottom parts iseffected mechanically with the top and bottom parts being snappinglyengageable with each other.
 10. A plastics bottle according to claim 1wherein the top and bottom parts are locally secured to one another andform a single molded piece.